Tag: Corruption

Foreign Bribery Of Congress

I have been writing about the bribery that goes on in our Congress. Congresspeople get cash from a wealth of sources even foreign countries have been known to bribe our Congress.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Israel just to mention a few….but it is a lot deeper than those I listed.

But just how deep is this crime?

Democratic Texas congressman Henry Cuellar was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of “bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering.” The accusations revolve around a set of deals in which Cuellar allegedly accepted money from a state-owned Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for an agreement to push U.S. foreign policy in their favor.

As concerning as this may be, it’s not even the first such indictment against a sitting member of Congress this year. In March, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) received a superseding indictment which expands further upon earlier accusations that the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman took bribes to advocate on behalf of the Egyptian and Qatari governments.

These cases make it clear that foreign bribery, in which representatives of one country pay money to manipulate the representatives of another, is still a serious problem in the United States. As the world’s most powerful and interventionist nation, no other government has more influence over the rest of the world’s affairs — influence which can be bought. The recent charges against Rep. Cuellar and Sen. Mendendez show how significant of a problem bribery and undue influence has been for the U.S. congress, while also drawing attention to the ongoing efforts to prevent this corruption from continuing.

Bribes offered in exchange for political favors are nothing new in Congress. The first congressional bribery investigation on record took place in 1854, when a lobbyist attempted to bribe members of Congress into extending the patent for the Colt revolver handgun. The question of bribery across borders, however, did not receive much attention in Congress until fairly recently.

Concerns about foreign bribery emerged most forcefully in the mid-1970s as a result of the Watergate investigation and the Church Committee, which investigated abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. These investigations identified slush funds run by large companies that could be used for illegal political donations and undisclosed foreign payments, including several U.S.-based corporations with overseas operations.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/congress-bribery/

The bribes are hidden behind those damn PACs, political action committees.

It is time to clean up the den of corruption….there is no place for it in our system.

Sadly money makes the wheels of government less squeaky and running ‘smoothly’…..as they say ‘follow the money’.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Court System is ‘Corrupt’

That is the statement made by the Speaker of the House Johnson….

Johnson, who is second in line for the presidency, called the court system “corrupt.”

While I seldom agree with much any Repub has to say these I will admit that I agree with his statement in general terms but do not agree with the substance of his statement.

You can see what I mean….

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson assailed the hush money case against Donald Trump Tuesday as an illegitimate “sham,” becoming the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court, embrace the former president’s claims of political persecution and attack the U.S. system of justice.

It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trump’s defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy.

Johnson, who is second in line for the presidency, called the court system “corrupt.”

Outside the New York courthouse, he decried “this ridiculous prosecution that is not about justice.” He said, “It’s all about politics.”

In portraying the case against Trump as politically motivated, the Republicans are also laying the groundwork to dismiss its significance should the jury convict, and for potential challenges to the fall election, a rematch with President Joe Biden, a Democrat

Johnson was a chief architect of Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential results ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, and last week he called the hush money trial and the other election-year cases against Trump a “borderline criminal conspiracy.”

(apnews.com)
Recent news from the courts points to rampant corruption with favors showered on the judges….so I agree with Johnson that he court system is corrupt and can be bought.
 
But that is what we get when we allow groups like the Federalists to give us political hacks as judges.
 
Personally Donald the Orange needs to be held accountable for everything he has done as he works against the very democratic foundations of this country.
 
But sadly the court system will remain just as corrupt as it is today or possibly become even more so in the future….time for a change in the system to make it a reliable referee of the federal system…..that is missing in today’s court.
 
I have spoken, It is written, so be it.
 
I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

Just Another Corrupt Dem

Go figure!

Nothing new here.

Since few seem to be interested in the whole 2024 thing……I will change gears for awhile.

Americans are beginning (finally) to see that there is very little different between Dems and Repubs in our Congress…..both can be bought.

A senior Dem in the Senate, Menendez, was caught red handed and now a prominent Dem in the House is accused of bribery…..

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife were indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges and taken into custody Friday in connection with a federal probe into ties between American business leaders and the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, per the AP. From 2014 to 2021, Cuellar and his wife accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, and in exchange, Cuellar agreed to advance the interests of the country and the bank in the US, according to the indictment. The Department of Justice said the couple surrendered to authorities on Friday.

  • Example: Among other things, Cuellar agreed to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the House, the indictment states.
  • Denial: Cuellar released a statement Friday declaring innocence. “Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” he said. “Before I took action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm. Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the … prosecutors to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or hear our side.”
  • Money: The payments to the couple went through a Texas-based shell company owned by Imelda Cuellar and two of the couple’s children, according to the indictment. That company received payments from the Azerbaijan energy company of $25,000 per month under a “sham contract,” purportedly in exchange for unspecified strategic consulting and advising services. “In reality, the contract was a sham used to disguise and legitimate the corrupt agreement between Henry Cuellar and the government of Azerbaijan,” the indictment states.
  • A search: The FBI searched the congressman’s house in the border city of Laredo in 2022, and Cuellar’s attorney at that time said Cuellar was not the target of that investigation. That search was part of a broader investigation related to Azerbaijan that saw FBI agents serve a raft of subpoenas and conduct interviews in DC and Texas.

There is not a big difference in the people in Congress….both are corruptible and greedy….and yet we keep voting for these parties time and time again and expect a different outcome….what was it Einstein said about that?

This criminal activity runs deep….from the White House to state and local officials….greed is a prime motivator.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Dems Are Just As Corrupt

I have read many articles telling us all about the corruption within the GOP…..the stocks thing, the bribes, the under the table payments…..all maybe true but to leave the Dems out of the equation is a disservice to the readers.

I have said a few times that I had no faith in the Dems basically because they are deep down no better than those slugs in the GOP….and here is just another example of how deep it goes.

A second superseding indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez was unsealed Tuesday, accusing the New Jersey Democrat of using his political power to aid the Qatari government in return for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. Federal prosecutors say Menendez helped to arrange a deal between a Jersey developer, Fred Daibes, and a Qatari sheikh investor, the New York Times reports. In return, prosecutors say, Menendez was paid off with cash, gold bars, Formula 1 tickets, and more. The Washington Post explains that the indictment does not add charges, but makes public for the first time new allegations of corruption against Menendez. Daibes is also charged in the case, NBC News reports.

Menendez, who is scheduled to go on trial in May and has also been accused of aiding Egypt, has so far pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him and may still run for reelection (he did, however, step down from leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). A spokesperson calls the latest allegations “a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a Senator and his constituents.” Menendez is accused of making public statements praising Qatar and of giving them to Daibes so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari investor (a member of the royal family) as well as a Qatari government official during the time Daibes’ deal was in talks. Menendez also allegedly talked to the investor directly, using an encrypted messaging app, to express his support for the deal.

In case you are unaware of his other legal problems…..

More trouble for Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey: Federal prosecutors have rewritten their indictment against the senator to accuse him of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the US government if they are acting as “an agent of a foreign principal.” His wife, Nadine Menendez, is similarly charged, as is a third defendant, Wael Hana, per the New York Times. As a member of Congress, Menendez would have been prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government, even if he did register as one. The indictment says the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022.

The Guardian previously detailed some of the allegations specific to Egypt: Menendez allegedly obtained details from the State Department about people working at the US embassy in Cairo, then turned over the information to Egyptian officials. The original indictment stated that “although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or if made public.” The allegations also accuse Menendez of using his clout to try to increase military sales to Egypt in exchange for bribes, per the Times.

Let’s not forget all the cash stashed in his home……

Sen. Bob Menendez says he’s not stepping down from the Senate after being indicted on bribery charges—and he’s got an explanation for the cash investigators say they found stashed around his home. The New Jersey Democrat said Monday that the money found in clothes and closets was his from his own savings accounts, the Guardian reports. He said that over the last 30 years, he has withdrawn thousands of dollars of legitimately earned income from his accounts, “which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”

Menendez, who was born in the US a few months after his parents left Cuba, didn’t comment on the gold bars also mentioned in the indictment. Investigators say they found $480,000 in cash in Menendez’s home and another $70,000 in his wife’s safety deposit box. Menendez and his wife are accused of taking bribes in exchange for political favors to the government of Egypt and business associates in New Jersey, the New York Times reports. The senator said Monday that he is facing his “biggest fight yet,” but predicted that “not only will I be exonerated, I will still be New Jersey’s senior senator.”

There you go….I am not picking on one person just trying to point out that our 2 party system is so corrupt that it is destroying itself from the inside.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Dec23

Our lay-about Congress needs to shape up or ship out. Neither party can claim any moral high ground these days they bot are corrupt and lazy….they spend more time running to the nearest camera and/or mic to make their ramblings and then retreat into the inner sanctum of Congress and do little that would actually benefit this country or its citizens in any way.

They trade stocks using insider information with impunity….that needs to stop and stop now.

There is a bi-partisan bill in Congress that could end such practices…..

Congress took an important step toward cleaning up its act: for only the third time since the Civil War, it voted to expel one of its members. But the ethical rot in Congress extends beyond former Rep. George Santos’ outrageous lies and campaign and financial abuses. The institution is in a crisis of public confidence that we must address.

Routine reports of members of Congress making suspicious stock trades and owning stock in companies they regulate have severely harmed the public’s confidence that members of Congress act in the best interest of our country—rather than their own wallets.

It’s past time that we rise to the occasion and pass comprehensive legislation to ban members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children from owning or trading stock, and that’s precisely what the bipartisan Ending Trading and Holding In Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act would do.

This critical bipartisan legislation, which was introduced by two of this column’s co-authors—Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) in the House and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in the Senate—as well as by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) in the House, addresses the threat posed by members of Congress owning and trading individual securities, which undermines the critical work of the federal government.

At the beginning of the pandemic, a moment when public confidence in our institutions of government was critical, Congress was rocked by reports of members trading individual stocks in pharmaceutical companies after receiving non-public information about the threat of COVID-19. Since then, we’ve seen a steady drip of scandals, each day seemingly bringing another story of members trading stocks in industries their committees regulate, or holding investments in fossil fuel companies while sitting on committees in charge of climate change policies. And each new incident drives public faith in our government lower and lower.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/one-simple-way-to-get-the-public-to-trust-congress-again

Sorry but this idea made me chuckle.

To be honest I do not think this has a snowball’s chance of passing for members of Congress get millions from insider info and from lobbyists buying their support for further screwing of the people they represent.

But anyway I think it is a stellar idea.

That may be the kiss of death.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Menendez Saga

The Democratic senator for New Jersey has never been likeable to me…..he is a big business Dem that came to the Congress on the Clinton coattails.

Over the years he has had his problems with corruption and once again he has been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.

Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey announced on Saturday that he will run against Sen. Robert Menendez in the state’s Democratic primary for Senate next year, saying he feels compelled to run against the three-term senator after he and his wife were indicted on sweeping corruption charges. Kim’s surprise announcement comes as a growing number of Democrats are calling for Menendez to step down. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman became the first Democratic senator to do so, and several members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, along with the state’s Democratic governor, have said he should resign, per the AP.

This is not something I expected to do, but I believe New Jersey deserves better,” Kim said. Fetterman, meanwhile, said his Senate colleague is “entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy.” Menendez and wife Nadine were indicted on Friday for using his position to aid the authoritarian government of Egypt and also to pressure federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend. The three-count indictment lists a series of bribes they were paid by three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for the corrupt acts—gold bars, a luxury car, and cash.

It is the second indictment on bribery charges for Menendez—and the second time he has had to relinquish his post as the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel. He regained the leadership spot in 2018 after the case ended with a deadlocked jury. Menendez was defiant after Friday’s indictment, saying in a statement Friday evening that “I am not going anywhere.” Authorities who searched Menendez’s home last year found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars, as well as over $480,000 in cash—much of it hidden in closets, clothing, and a safe, prosecutors say. The indictment includes photos of cash stuffed in envelopes in jackets bearing Menendez’s name and of a luxury car that prosecutors say was given to the couple as a bribe from the businessmen.

There calls for Menendez to resign….but mostly from younger Congress people….some of the older and entrenched members think he should stay put.

Add Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the list of politicians who think Sen. Bob Menendez needs to resign due to his indictment on corruption charges. The Democratic representative said the charges against Menendez, including allegations that he accepted bribes including a Mercedes-Benz, are “very serious,” the Guardian reports. “Consistency matters. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a Republican or a Democrat,” she said, adding that the allegations “involve the nature of not just his but all of our seats in Congress.” Meanwhile, while Sen. John Fetterman and several Democrats in Menendez’s home state of New Jersey say their fellow Dem should step down, NBC News reports other Democrat senators have not been so quick to join that chorus:

  • Chris Murphy: “No senators should be trading on their position in order to enrich themselves,” he said Sunday on MSNBC. “It is hard for me to believe that Sen. Menendez can be effective in his job given these allegations, but I think I want to get back and talk to my colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee before I recommend a path forward for Sen. Menendez.”
  • Mark Kelly: “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said on CBS Sunday, noting that Menendez stepping down as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee is “a serious step.” Kelly continued, “I think Sen. Menendez is going to have to think long and hard about the cloud that’s going to hang over his service in the United State Senate. He’s got to figure out whether he can adequately serve the people of New Jersey.”
  • Dick Durbin: “In terms of resignation, that’s a decision to be made by Sen. Menendez and the people of New Jersey,” he said on CNN Sunday. “The person who is accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and it’s the responsibility of the government to prove that case. I have said that about Donald Trump. I will say the same thing about Bob Menendez.”

Personally he should resign with a hint of corruption and let the Congress get on with business it really does not need another diversion at this time.

I say if guilty get the slug out of government and tighten the noose around other forms of corruption as well….a good place to start would be SCOTUS.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

SCOTUS, The Corrupt

I recent months word has been leaking out about all the shady deals the SCOTUS judges have been making to their benefit…..like Clarence Thomas….

An in-depth New York Timesstory examining Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas‘ membership in an exclusive club of wealthy Americans—and the benefits he has reaped from the association—sparked fresh calls for his resignation on Sunday, with watchdogs and lawmakers decrying the new report as further evidence of deep-seated corruption at the nation’s most powerful judicial body.

Months after his confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1991, according to the Times, Thomas was accepted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a group named after the Gilded Age American author Horatio Alger.

“At Horatio Alger, he moved into the inner circle, a cluster of extraordinarily wealthy, largely conservative members who lionized him and all that he had achieved,” the newspaper reported. “While he has never held an official leadership position, in some ways he has become the association’s leading light. He has granted it unusual access to the Supreme Court, where every year he presides over the group’s signature event: a ceremony in the courtroom at which he places Horatio Alger medals around the necks of new lifetime members.”

The new reporting comes on the heels of a series of revelations from the investigative outlet ProPublica, which uncovered decades of trips Thomas took on the dime of billionaire Harlan Crow, who is deeply enmeshed in right-wing politics.

ProPublica also found a previously undisclosed real estate deal between Crow and Thomas, who just recently joined his fellow conservative justices in ruling against affirmative action and student debt relief for more than 40 million Americans.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/clarence-thomas-gifts

Thomas and his wife are not alone….Alito has been caught as well as others….

All this corruption leads one to ask….if this is the case do we really need the Supreme Court?

I mean these judges are proving that they do not think democracy is a good thing….why keep it around?

Vested interests create “checks and balances” primarily to make political systems non-responsive to demands for social reform. Historically, therefore, the checks are politically unbalanced in practice. Instead of producing a happy medium, their effect often has been to check the power of the people to assert their interests at the expense of the more powerful. Real reform requires a revolution – often repeated attempts. The Roman Republic suffered five centuries of fighting to redistribute land and cancel debts, all of which failed as the oligarchy’s “checks” imposed deepening economic dependency and imbalance.

The Supreme Court is America’s most distinctive check. Its deepening bias since its takeover by “conservatives” claiming to be “originalist” interpreters of the constitution, has led to the most widespread protests since Franklin Roosevelt threatened to pack the court in the 1930s by expanding its membership to create a more democratic majority. Although appointed by presidents and consented to by Congress, the judges’ lifetime tenure imposes the ideology of past elections on the present.

So why are they needed at all? Why not permit Congress to make laws that reflect the needs of the time? The Court’s judges themselves have pointed out that if Congress doesn’t like their rulings, it should pass its own laws, or even a constitutional amendment, to provide a new point of reference.

Should There be a Supreme Court? Its Role Has Always Been Anti-Democratic

Then I agree get rid of it….if greed and personal gain is all they are there for why do we need them…..let them go to Wall Street and steal America’s future .

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Rot At SCOTUS

The recent events around the dealings of Justice Thomas and his closeness with some billionaire who seems to be paying the bills for Thomas.

I read a piece written by Bill Astore that sums up what is happening within our Supreme Court……a good piece and should be read…..

A big part of the American experiment is the idea we are a nation of laws as defined by the U.S. Constitution. The law is supposed to apply equally to all, and disinterested, impartial, justices are supposed to make rulings that are unaffected by money or race or religion or any other factor other than the law itself and what’s right and what isn’t.

That doesn’t describe today’s Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS).

Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted all kinds of undeclared gifts from a billionaire supporter, including tuition for his great-nephew at private boarding schools. Justice Neil Gorsuch profited from a real estate transaction with a rich law firm CEO with extensive business before the court. Apparently, SCOTUS polices itself here, and so far the SCOTUS cop on watch is asleep.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh gained his seat under a storm of controversy. I wrote in September 2018 that he should withdraw his name from consideration, based on the demeanor he showed at his Senate hearing, but of course he didn’t. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was specifically “saved” by President Trump to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg; everyone knew she was a conservative Catholic opposed to abortion with a clear record of being pro-business to boot.

You’d think the #1 criterion for a SCOTUS justice would be unassailable integrity, but today it seems to be predictable partisan positions (both political parties are guilty here, though Republicans are more blatant). Allegiance to moneyed interests is a big plus. The latter point is why these justices see no problem with accepting “gifts,” otherwise known as bribes (for that is what they are, in plain speak).

https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/rot-at-the-supreme-court

Integrity in the court has left the building many years ago…..the rot within the court is all pervasive….the only for sure about the court is it is as corruptible as the rest of DC and our elected officials….the only difference is these political hacks have a lifetime to have their palms greased.

It is beyond time to make some much needed SCOTUS reforms…..like term limits, mandatory retirement and stop allowing political hacks on the highest court in the land.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Thomas: Corroding Public Trust

For years I have been writing about Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, for years and the antics of his wife and her endorsements of far right ideas.

Just yesterday a more damning report of Thomas and his billionaire benefactor……

Clarence Thomas has a very, very rich friend. This friend, billionaire real estate magnate Harlan Crow, has for two decades let the Supreme Court justice and his wife travel around the world to exotic locales at his expense, reports ProPublica. The story by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski notes that Thomas has never reported these vacation flights on financial disclosures, which “appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress, and federal officials to disclose most gifts.” The ethics law experts they interview also say Thomas should have reported his multiple trips on Crow’s superyacht. However, the legalities are murky because the story also points out that the Supreme Court “is left almost entirely to police itself” on such matters. Regardless, “the extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history” of the court, per the story.

“When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust,” says Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who has served in the administrations of both parties. “Quite frankly, it makes my heart sink.” Crow tells the outlet the two never discuss cases, and the story makes clear that Thomas has never ruled on a case in which Crow’s company was involved. However, the court does hear cases that affect the real estate industry in general, and Thomas meets other prominent conservatives and business executives on the trips. The vacations—including one to Indonesia in 2019 that would have cost Thomas about $500,000 had he paid himself— appear to stand in contrast to comments the justice once made in a documentary (financed by Crow) about how he likes to travel. “I prefer the RV parks,” he said. “I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There’s something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that.”

Read the full story.

Let’s look at this situation a bit deeper….

either Clarence Thomas himself nor the Supreme Court has responded to ProPublica’s report detailing how the justice has received lavish vacations and gifts from a prominent GOP donor for 20 years without disclosing them. Democrats, on the other hand, have plenty to stay about Thomas’ relationship with real estate magnate Harlan Crow:

  • AOC: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for Thomas to be impeached. “This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking—almost cartoonish,” she wrote. Attached to the tweet is an image from the story, a painting (based on a real-life photo) of Thomas at Crow’s Adirondack resort smoking a cigar while with Crow with three other prominent conservatives.
  • Durbin: Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin said his panel “will act” in the wake of the report, per the Hill. “The highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards,” he said in a statement. “Today’s Pro Publica report reveals that Justice Thomas has for years accepted luxury travel on private yachts and jets and a litany of other gifts that he failed to disclose. This behavior is simply inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any public servant, let alone a Justice on the Supreme Court.”
  • Sen. Whitehouse: “This cries out for the kind of independent investigation that the Supreme Court—and only the Supreme Court, across the entire government—refuses to perform,” wrote Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who sits on the Judiciary Committee.
  • Others: Semafor rounds up the reaction of other angry Democrats here.
  • The rules: Here is how the AP lays things out: Supreme Court justices must file an annual financial disclosure report listing gifts they have received, and it’s unclear why Thomas failed to do so. Under a judiciary policy guide seen by the AP, “food, lodging or entertainment received as ‘personal hospitality of any individual’ does not need to be reported if it is at the personal residence of that individual or their family. That said, the exception to reporting is not supposed to cover ‘transportation that substitutes for commercial transportation’ and properties owned by an entity.” Thomas traveled on Crow’s superyacht and on his private aircraft. As ProPublica notes, the Supreme Court largely polices itself on such matters, something critics say must change.
  • Crow’s statement: ProPublica has provided Crow’s full statement, in which he says nothing improper transpired. He said he has extended “hospitality” to the Thomases “over the years” but that the couple “never asked for any of this hospitality.” He said they did not discuss matters before the court. “We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” Crow said. “More generally, I am unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas on any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe had any intention of doing that. These are gatherings of friends.”

This is just another nail in the case for doing some reform…..these so-called ‘Associates” have had their hands out for decades which flies in the face of proper justice from the “referees” of our democracy.

Impeach and Reform Now!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Legalized Political Bribery

I have been writing about the whole corruption thing that the Supreme Court brought about awhile back.

Here I am talking about the decision of the Supreme Court known as “Citizen United”.

This decision flung open the doors for the corruption in our political system….and made it legal.

…

the damage Republicans on the Supreme Court did to America when they legalized political bribery.

The good news is that there are numerous things Congress can do to undo the Court’s bizarre doctrine that money is the same thing as free speech and corporations have Bill of Rights freedoms and protections as “persons.”

Neither of these “rights to bribe” by the morbidly rich and corporations were recognized in the early years of our republic. Even today we’re unique among advanced democracies in holding these Supreme Court-created doctrines which underpin much if not most of today’s political corruption.

Congress has never, in the history of the United States, passed a law saying rich people buying politicians is the same thing as free speech or that corporations have a right to bribe politicians and lie to the public. To the contrary, Congress has passed hundreds of laws — which were overturned by these three Supreme Court decisions — regulating money in politics and criminalizing political corruption.

The Court’s inventing these twin doctrines has even corrupted the other two branches of government, leading today to legislative paralysis, an erosion of civil and voting rights, and widespread public cynicism.

The Executive branch of our government has done a lot of damage over the past five decades, from Nixon committing treason to blow up LBJ’s 1968 peace talks with Vietnam so he could beat VP Humphrey in that election, to Reagan’s massive tax cuts and defunding of our schools and colleges, to Bush’s two illegal and unnecessary $8 trillion wars, to Trump’s burning spies by passing classified information along to Russian intelligence while president.

The Legislative branch has also played a role in most of those fiascos and crimes, as well as the current Republican circus in the House of Representatives.

https://www.rawstory.com/amp/what-the-supreme-did-to-america-when-they-legalized-political-bribery-2659438661

Thanx to the Supreme Court has given real credence to the old say ….”the best government money can buy”.

There is no way out of this situation and it will only get worse as the money gets bigger.

Americans will remain the furthest thing from the minds of our elected officials.

If SCOTUS has legalized corruption then can we ask if the Court is corrupted?

Under the guise of the regressive legal theory of “originalism,” the United States Supreme Court Republican-appointed majority has issued a series of ultra-right rulings on such vital issues as votingrights, gerrymandering, unionorganizing, the death penalty, environmental protection, guncontrol, abortion, and campaign finance. The end goal appears to be nothing less than the dismantling of the last vestiges of the New Deal and the Civil Rights movement.

But in addition to being reactionary, is the court also guilty of corruption? The answer depends on how we define and think of corruption.

In the strictest legal sense, the justices appear to be in the clear. Under federal law, “public corruption” is defined as “a breach of the public’s trust by government officials who use their public office to obtain personal gain,” asking for or receiving anything of value in exchange for an official act. In a 2016 decision reversing the bribery conviction of former Virginia GOP Governor Bob McDonnell, the Supreme Court narrowed the legal definition of public corruption to require strict proof of a “quid pro quo”—a swap of money or another benefit in return for a specific governmental favor.

But from a larger moral and political perspective, the court’s Republican majority is far from innocent. We expect all federal judges—and particularly those at the top of the judicial pyramid—not only to be law-abiding but to be free of political bias and conflicts of interest. We expect them to honor the enormous faith we have placed in them to use their lifetime appointments to be forthright stewards of justice and democracy.

That faith has been breached time and again.

https://www.alternet.org/us-supreme-court-2659400868/

My thought is….yes they are.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”